Wild weather has hampered the finish of the 375-mile Patagonian Expedition
Race. Will Gray reports.

The region's famously unpredictable climate bit back as the 2012 Patagonian Expedition Race came to a conclusion in the glacier-filled fjords of the Beagle Channel last night.

After ten hard days, those teams still in the race could be forgiven for assuming they were home and dry, but as is so often the case in this wild event, there was a twist in the tail.

Travelling with limited means – some don’t even pack a tent – they had crossed glaciers, climbed mountains, paddled through fjords and biked down a large section of Tierra del Fuego, an archipelago as large as Switzerland.

Of the 19 teams that started, almost half had fallen by the wayside along the route.

Briton Nick Gracie and his team has led from the start, and they continued their strong pace on the final challenging trek through the Darwin mountain range. They were the first team out of the mountains, leaving them with just one 35-mile kayak, but it was a case of "hurry up and wait" as the Patagonian winds whipped up the icy waters into a frothy frenzy.

It was something that even these adventurous racers could not begin to tackle. In a place like Chilean Patagonia, you’ve got to expect some inclement weather.

Intense winds bend the trees permanently backwards on the flat plains of Chilean Tierra del Fuego, creating a landscape like nowhere else on Earth; fast-moving clouds in Torres del Paine give it a mysterious feel, and makes it all the more spectacular when the cloud cover opens up to reveal the park’s towers of granite.

Two years ago in these mountains, the teams in this race were hit with sub-zero conditions and one group had to sleep through a blizzard on top of a glacier.

Last year, in Torres del Paine, on a glorious blue-sky day, three teams were literally blown off their bikes by a dust storm while the others were blown along straight roads at speeds of 50mph without pushing a pedal.

This year, it was the sea’s turn – and as Mother Nature called the shots, the teams simply had to sit and wait it out.

Camped out on a remote beach, it was an unexpected opportunity for some R&R in one of the most pristine and unpolluted parts of the planet. But with no let-up after two days, and the safety crews from the race organsiers and the Chilean Navy unable to guarantee safe passage, the race ultimately had to call for a little outside assistance.

Instead of climbing into kayaks and paddling out into the icy froth, the teams boarded a ship and hauled their yellow two-man vessels onto its bows before sailing away.

But surely it couldn’t finish like that could it? Well, no. Of course it couldn’t.

Once close to the Glacier Pla, where the finish sat amongst a sea of icebergs, the racers hit the water again to paddle across the line. It was, in essence, a ceremonial end, but it said a lot about the race and the region.

The 10 finishing teams – 40 men and women from around the world – had finally completed their journey. But while the stunning wilderness of Chilean Patagonia encourages exploration, it's clear that its natural wonders will never be completely conquered.